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Change of mentality required: singles & doubles

hi
When I switch between doubles and singles I have to take an entirely different mentality.

During Doubles, I tend to rush every single short and take it as soon as it comes over the net. As for singles, I am a percentage player seldom attacking. I often forget to "switch" ans end up loosing my first singles game after a night of doubles.

I wanted to know whether you
a) have to
b) don't have to
take a complete different mentality between the two disciplines.

I tend to play the same style in singles and doubles, because I tend to rely on a few well-placed smashes and basically just using tactics to out-maneuver the opponent. Currently, my stamina is quite bad so I can only do the jumpsmash a few times in singles, but for doubles, I jump quite a lot.

I answered no because I don't play alot of singles, and when I do play... it's attacking all the way. After 4 years of regular doubles, I lacked the endurance and patience for battle of attritions. Although I voted no, I do think singles' and doubles' differences are almost day and night, thus require different approaches. To be able to play attacking style and sustain it for at least two sets, one has to be super fit and focus. Patience and good stamina are basic for those who like to rally.

i answered no, but i get the feeling that i may have misunderstood the question - anyway here goes...

i use the same mentality for both, simply because my mentality is simple - i must win. i build the rally until i see a winner, and then focus entirely on making that opportunity into a winnnig point - i do this over and over again until the game is won (or lost... :S)

hope this helps...

i am quite surprised at the number of people that have said yes tho - i agree you need to use different tactics for singles and doubles - that is obvious. but mentality wise it should always be the same..

I feel singles is more of a controlled game where you and only you can make the difference in your game and as such have to be patient and wait for an opening, if your opponent is better then they are better, if they are worse they are worse. The best player on the day will win, there is less that can go wrong and you can controll more of your shots and where they go hoping to start a specific sequence of shots to lead to your eventual winner.

Doubles by it's very nature is mostly trying to force an error in most cases a lift from the opposition and seems to be more hurried and tense, in doubles there is more that can go wrong and you can't control what the other three players are going to do even at a high standard although you can have an educated guess or play the percentage game but in the end there are more variables and less controlled play which indicated a more hurried approach.

Although you may know that all of badminton is about some great shot placement, and basically out duelling your opponent(s)...

When it comes to singles, you must concentrate on some fantastic footwork, deep clears, tight drop shots, and some quick push shots when you go poaching at the net... a strong backhand helps too, for those shots that you just cant rush back to fast enough to hit. Also a nice jump smash when you are treated to a weak clear is handy as well.

Where as in doubles, it's all about the drives, smashes, drops, teamwork...
A smart play will set your partner up for a good kill opportunity, which is something I like to do... it's also fun to make the opponents run all over the court scrambling for the shuttle

In singles, you have no one to blame but yourself for not reaching the shuttle quick enough to hit a proper shot.

I answered yes. As a singles and doubles player, I tend to find myself having a different mentality towards each type of game. Obviously there are many differences between the two and therefore there are many different approaches you have to take to the respective game.

In doubles, it's usually looked at as a more attacking game; with high pressure from you and the opponents (drives, continuous smashing). With this in mind, a more aggressive mentality is present as you realize that you have to be more offensive in order to win. There are other factors (strategy in where and when to smash, etc), but you know what I mean.

As for singles, the offensive is not as much. Don't get me wrong, there is offense but we do see more clears and lifts. I believe, IMO because I play more singles than doubles, that there is more strategy in this type of game. With this, it requires you to concentrate on the strategy of the game (to move your opponent, when to make the shots) and concentration on shot placement, movement on the court (however this should come natural at a high level).

Playing singles the way I do in doubles will open up voids to exploit, as I'm used to the formation and movement in doubles that it can happen almost automatically. In singles, I'd suddenly find that the 'other guy' is missing and I ended up in panic to reach every shuttle. I'm almost always in the crouched and ready position to receive that drop or smash, thus if the opponent lobs one over the head far away, I'd end up reacting a little slow.

Playing doubles the way I play single could make me do more unforced errors or ended up playing either too slow or too fast. Too slow because I try to become more 'graceful' and 'relaxed', or too fast because I didn't know the 'other guy' is there. I'd perhaps end up hit too often, trying those strokes to take that free space which would have been empty during singles.

Perhaps it's more of the type of player you are - I am more keen on contests of tactics and strategy than that of endurance and skills, thus I am very much a doubles guy.

I think this mentality thing is quite obvious.
If u look at pros in tournaments, how many of them play more than 1 event? very rarely like in canada because we are short of good players LOL and it explains why we suck

typo

Originally Posted by cooler

I think this mentality thing is quite obvious.
If u look at pros in tournaments, how many of them play more than 1 event? very rarely like in canada because we are short of good players LOL and it explains why we suck

Recreationally, prolly not.

If u look at pros in tournaments, how many of them play more than 1 event? Very rarely unlike in canada where we're short of decent players LOL and it explains why we suck

I take a different approach in Singles and Doubles.. when i'm playing doubles.. i tend to end it as fast as possible. But in Singles.. my aim is to tire my opponent. Much slower paste in Singles. But in terms if shot making, for doubles sometimes i set some shots for my partner to kill.

smash stance

I just realised why I am not able to play singles to save my life. I have a tendency of having a very slow recovery time after smashes (playing mostly doubles, my partner can cover for me). I smash and land on my left leg not rotating through 180 deg hence not resulting in the ready position.

When I play singles, I play best when I am attacking, but given my slow recovery speed after smashing, I can't cover the court if they get it back.

That is why I need to change mentality (hence this poll) from being attack driven, which in fairness is the normal doubles approach, to only attacking when I can kill.

do you have to take a complete different mentality between singles and doubles?

I voted YES.

Most of the time I play double. I play single whenever there is space to play to allow single playing.

The experience I have is that the double player have to set his mental mind to play the role according to the situation of that particular rally. Say if the playing is in the defensive situation, both players mentally have to think how to play in such a way so as to change defensive play into offensive one. If playing in the offensive position, the backcourt player mentally has to set his mind to control the play to set up situation for his forecourt partner to tap down any loose forecourt return; the forecourt player has to maintain in high alertness with steady hand to return and remember not to change any offensive play into defensive ie not to lift the shuttle if possible.